Sand Castle
by Vanessa S. Quest
Summary: Hotch and Reid take Jack to the beach. Established H/R implied. Please R & R!


"Do we really have to…? It's 7 in the morning on a Sunday…" Spencer's head was buried into the pillow as he muffled out his exhaustion, he and Aaron had been going at it until 3 that very morning, vigorously, and was now somehow expected to join waking society, a limited group saying the actual time.

"We promised Jack we would."

"No one really likes the beach, it's over-rated."

"Not when you're 5, it's not." Aaron smiled, tracing circles in the small of Spencer's back. "Come on, I'll make some coffee."

"…Not good enough." Spencer pouted, he continued to yawn and stretch, he was too tired for this.

Aaron smiled to himself, thinking of a new approach, "Too bad, I have new trunks, the lady at the counter said they were _wild_, that I looked _sexy_ in them…"

Spencer shot up at the sounds of a hussy moving in on his man, "And what exactly did _YOU_ say to that?"

He suddenly blushed realizing he had just given Aaron exactly what he wanted. That man wasn't a negotiator, he was a terrorist. Currently, he was terrorizing his Sunday sleep schedule from both ends.

"I told her my boyfriend would love to hear that." He smiled. _Bastard_. But damn, he was a cute one.

Spencer threw his pillow at him unceremoniously.

"I love you, too. Now come on, we have to get ready before Jack gets up." He was smiling, not his somber smile either, but his cheeky, toothy smile he'd get when combining the two things he loved most in the world- spending time with his son and his lover. Spencer begrudgingly gave him that, it was sweet, but he still wasn't looking forward to the day.

"Do you know just how many horrible things come out of the sea…? I don't see the appeal of going somewhere to get stung by a ray, jellyfish, bitten by a shark, or alligator, or attacked by dolphins…"

Aaron gave Spencer a look with a slight eye-roll at how exasperating he was being, trying to suck the romance out of going to the beach with the sun low against the water and watching tide come in.

"…Or getting sliced up by the rocks or pinched by a crab… and then there's the sand—do you have ANY idea how much bacteria is in-"

"Spencer! You grew up in Las Vegas, you've seen sand plenty before."

"But that sand's _DIFFERENT_! That sand doesn't have fish excrement constantly washing into it… or getting into your shorts… And then there's the risk of sunburn…"

"Alright, I get it, you don't like the beach, Spencer, but think about Jack. He's really looking forward to this." Aaron coaxed, which somehow worked as the two adults packed up beach towels, Spencer worked on the lunch, making PB&J sandwiches, appropriate he somehow supposed if only for their names, he packed vinegar which when Aaron returned with a ball and some buckets and plastic shovels he gave his lover a bizarre look begging to know what they were going to do with vinegar.

"If a jellyfish tentacle stings you, any poison it introduces into you is there, there's no antivenin or anything, but you can prevent the other stinger cells from discharging their venom if you pour vinegar on it. It's basic first aid, Aaron."

"It's _Virginia_, Spencer. It's not exactly the jellyfish tourist trap."

Spencer let out a, "Better safe than sorry…" and continued to pack the sun block. "Don't forget, we should put the sun block on half an hour before prolonged exposure to sunlight."

Aaron gave Spencer an incredulous look, "Really…? Really, you think I haven't read the instructions for sun block?"

"You don't follow instructions well." Spencer cast his eyes over to a DVD shelf in the living room, assembled mostly correct, sans a few shelves being placed in backwards.

"Oh for… Spencer, it's a bookcase, I've assembled them before!"

"No, it's not a bookcase, it's a DVD case, and that doesn't matter… most people don't even apply sun block correctly. And practically never reapply as directed."

"Ok, I get it, you woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I'll make it up to you, but can you please change your attitude before Jack gets up? I want this to be special for all of us."

Spencer let out a sigh and a defeated, "Fine…" before going back to packing up a kite and moving back to their bedroom to get his swimming trunks, a button-up shirt to cover his shoulders, and sandals. He rarely had ever worn sandals, and after the Henkel case that frequency didn't increase. He liked keeping his feet covered, it was a strange defense mechanism.

One that on three occasions until Aaron had realized existed had resulted in an abrupt end to intercourse and being locked in the bathroom until a sense of security returned to him, that and a Benadryl metabolized. He looked at the tops of his feet, some of the wounds to the soles of his feet had actually wrapped around, visible from the top. It had hurt, like hell actually, and even after the wounds had been closing, walking on them pulled at the fibril trying to stitch the wounds shut making the tension add to the pain he felt when walking. Why was he thinking about that right now? He shook his head, he didn't want to think about that time, it was one of the worst times in his life.

Aaron had startled him, coming into the bedroom, and Spencer's shoulders jumped when hands were on his arms, he eased only slightly when Aaron planted a kiss into the nape of his neck. He let out a shaky breath, which caught Aaron's attention.

"Is something wrong…?"

Sure, it had been _years_ since what had transpired, but the kind of imprinting being tortured for two days by a madman did, well it would be _decades_ before that would disappear, and that was for people without eidetic memory.

Spencer forced a smile trying to shove the thought away, "Yeah, yeah I'm totally fine." Fucked up, Insecure, Neurotic, and Emotional. Right, he was _FINE_, NA told him so.

Aaron kissed his hairline, "I'm going to pack up the car, can you get Jack into his swimsuit? Top drawer on the left, his swim shirt should be right in there too."

Spencer nodded, "Sure, sure. I'm on it." Aaron gave him a worried glance but let it ease into a relaxed, loving gaze. His lover was beautiful.

Aaron was impressed, Spencer's mood since joining him in the car with Jack was completely different than what it had been since he was abruptly woken up, he was telling Jack fun facts, told him about some myths about islands being carried on sea turtles' backs, explained what phytoplankton and zooplankton was, that seaweed had different types and was also called kelp… even going so far as to help him build trenches to catch crabs, despite tide being in the wrong direction for it to work.

By lunch time, after the second application of sunscreen that he'd have forgotten about had it not been for Spencer's helpful hint of leaving the bottle out on the chair suggestively, Jack and Spencer had disappeared behind a set of rocks to work on something. He had been told specifically to stay away for a good twenty minutes, so by time twenty minutes were up, he was curious and came over. He knew the buckets were missing and he wondered if they were working on collecting shells.

He gaped when he saw Spencer, covered in sand up his forearms and legs, Jack's hair caked in sand too, fingers, hands, sand was everywhere, he had a suspicion it was in both of their shorts too. The sand castle behind them was even more impressive than the turn-about that Spencer had had. He snuck away before Jack could notice him snooping and took a few candid shots of the two working diligently on the castle. Then, making his presence known, he took a few more photos.

He had never seen a sand castle that amazing, "I can't believe you two built that…?"

He asked with his eyes why Spencer who had so adamantly opposed the beach because of getting sand in his shorts would now be covered in it so extremely, his eyes asked how if Spencer hated the beach he could create something so… whimsical and beautiful.

"I grew up in the dessert, Aaron. I was surrounded by sand, and I have a degree in Engineering, I can build a sand castle." He smiled, his snark was put off by his jubilant smile of accomplishment, "Though this is the first time I've tried my hand at an Atlantis theme."

And it was magical, like most things Spencer did, the towers were so detailed and fine, the boardwalk and walking-bridges that connected the towers to the main castle walls… he didn't think sand could even be USED like that… there was even a mote that was dug connecting it all the way back to the ocean, a few other people were starting to take notice of it too, and Aaron saw the flashes of a few cameras go off. They had built, in about thirty minutes, a four foot by four foot by three foot castle.

"Alright, it's lunch time, and after that we're going to rinse the sand off and then head back, okay Jack?" Aaron said, smiling as Jack beamed back at him.

"Mhm!" Jack nodded, enthused.

Spencer stood up and started swiping at his hands trying to get some of the sand off, "I think I'm going to try to rinse off BEFORE eating. I put enough sand into my wichs already."

Jack let out a high pitched giggle only a five year old could manage, thinking Spencer had just said the funniest thing in the world.

Aaron suspected he was going to have to bully Spencer again tonight, because he didn't think he'd be able to let Spencer sleep soundly when they got home, in fact he was pretty sure Spencer would be sore for the next two days after the passionate love-making. He was going to have a lot to make up for by the time the weekend was over.


End file.
